Welcome to the Jungle

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or Glee. All recognisable characters, content, or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Part Two: Sixteen

Chapter Two: Send Me On My Way

The Steam House is one of those places with a high rate of employee turnover. It's not a bad place to work, per se, but the employees in question are usually at or near transitional points in their lives; high school students, college students, young men and women perpetually eager to move on to bigger and better things.

Knowing this, Harry isn't surprised when Penelope and Gemma resign within days of each other. It's a shame, because they'd developed a good rapport over the last 12 months, but it's the way of things that people come and go, and Harry knows better than to let them depart on a sour note.

He and Kate throw a farewell party instead, a cookout in his parents' backyard, all Steam House employees welcome, and most, at least, make an appearance. Penelope and Gemma are the guests of honour, of course, happy to answer any and all questions regarding their plans for the future, and in some respects, it's bittersweet.

The last 12 months had been tumultuous, to say the least, but through it all, the Steam House had remained reliably, unchangingly consistent, but change isn't always terrible. The new team leaders in their midst, Roger, Herbert, Heidi and Duncan are recent WMHS graduates, had been Steam House team members the year prior, are familiar faces to the rest of them. As such, it won't be difficult to work with them in this new capacity, just different, and that's okay. It will just take some getting used to, but Harry can adapt.

He always has.

"I'm happy for them, really," Hermione says, swirling her punch around in her plastic cup. It's been spiked, predictably, but Hermione has no interest in getting drunk. Ron, beside her, is already three sheets to the wind. "But wow, it'll be weird without them around."

Harry shrugs, "I'm sure we'll manage."

Hermione hums her agreement, sips her cup, and nudges him with her elbow. "You throw a good party, you know?"

Harry pulls a face, and answers dubiously, "If you say so."

The party isn't anything particularly crazy. Neither Harry nor Kate have any interest in cleaning up after something like that, and moreover, since their mother actually owns and operates the Steam House, rumour of anything particularly wild is bound to get back to her. As is, both of their parents are aware of their plans for a reasonably tame, low-key gathering in the backyard. They've vacated the premises, too, as not to 'cramp their style', but they're only out to dinner and a movie, and only a phone call away in the event of trouble.

"I do say so," Hermione grins at him. She turns her gaze to the yard, where Kate's entertaining their guests with an impromptu show, her voice clear and resonant across the yard. She's using his guitar, and she banters with their coworkers about it, which inevitably leads to questions about whether he can play, and soon thereafter, entreaties for him to do so. Hermione glances at him, smiling. "Well?"

Harry is reluctant, but his friends are persistent, and thus he relents with a sigh. Kate smirks at him when he does so, hands over his guitar without hesitation, and drops into the seat he's just vacated.

"Break a leg, bro."

"Don't call me bro."

Kate sticks out her tongue, Harry gives her the finger, and approaches the ring of chairs wherein Gemma and Penelope hold court. He takes Kate's vacated seat, adjusts the tuning on his guitar, and offers his guests a brief, sheepish grin.

"So, I haven't really worked on anything in particular for tonight, so you'll have to take some old stuff, some impromptu stuff, so on and so on. I'd also like to add a disclaimer that Kate's a far better singer than I am, so yeah, that's about it, really, so here goes…"

He plays for a while, covers of John Mayer and Matt Nathanson, and a variety of other artists in his repertoire. he finishes off, however, with a cover of Crowded House's 'Don't Dream It's Over'. His audience sings along to the chorus, absurdly emotional as they do so, and by the time the song comes to a close, Penelope and Gemma are both laughing and crying.

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Hermione informs him later, "You're really quite good."

"Thanks," Harry answers.

"You ever thought about, I don't know, doing something with it?"

"Not really, no," Harry denies, "That's always been Kate's thing."

Harry's future has always been pretty straightforward: University, Peverell Industries, inheritance of the Potter Estate when the time comes. More recently, he's seriously considered service in the army at some point along the way - before university, maybe after - and beyond perhaps some time in politics, he's never really thought of much else for himself.

Hermione hums her acknowledgement. "She mentioned she signed up for the Glee Club?"

"Yeah," Harry confirms, "She's pretty excited about it."

Kate has also signed up for the Drama Club, and the WMHS marching band, and Harry's spent the last two weeks reminding everyone that she's his sister, and therefore off limits as far as slushie facials and general bullying are concerned. Santana and Brittany have helped, too, threatening retribution to anyone who even thinks about it, and in them, Harry's fairly certain he's found friends for life.

"Brave," Hermione comments.

Harry grunts his acknowledgement. He's not sure he agrees with her, but he's not going to start an argument over it. He changes the subject instead, talking about the classes they share, about Hermione's plans for the school newspaper, about the party at Ethan Summerby's they'd both attended the night before.

As they chat, the night continues on, the party draws to a close, and his parents arrive home in time to see Gemma and Penelope sandwich Harry into a three-way hug, buzzed and grateful, and embarrassingly sentimental.

"You've got to keep us posted," Penelope insists, "Let us know what's going on in your life."

"Your drama keeps things interesting," Gemma contributes.

"I'm glad my suffering kept you entertained," Harry answers, tone droll.

Gemma's completely unapologetic. "You know it."

After another round of hugs, Gemma and Penelope pile into Gemma's boyfriend's car. They wave as he pulls away from the curb, Harry returns it with a fond grin, and then turns away with an inaudible sigh. It's the last glimpse he'll see of them… At least for a while.

"It was a good night," Hermione says, her eyes on her phone, "Thank you for having us."

"You're always welcome," Harry answers. He shoves his hands in his pockets as Kate joins them, and they chat idly about their respective plans the following day. Kate's got shopping plans with her friends, and then she's headed to Colin's afterwards. Hermione's got a study date with Mike, and Harry's got a 7 - 3 shift at work. They commiserate, Harry jokes about his thrilling single life, and they tease him about a number of classmates who are supposedly interested in him until Hermione's father arrives to take her home.

"I'll see you on Monday," Hermione says, and graces him with another one of her bone-crushing hugs.

"Naturally," Harry concurs, "Thanks for coming today."

"It was my pleasure."

Hermione leaves after a brief exchange with Kate, and the two siblings retreat inside, and to the parents awaiting them there. They're quizzed, predictably, about the get together, and whether or not there were any disasters, but soon they're released to clean up the yard, and both go with weary, reluctant sighs.

"Tonight was fun," Kate says, content, even as she mechanically throws solo cups into a garbage bag, "We should make it a regular thing."

"Maybe," Harry replies. He's packing away all of the leftovers, and his dad expects him to clean the grill, and Harry sort of regrets that he can't do it all tomorrow, "Don't think Mum and Dad would be up for that, though."

Kate purses her lips, but concedes the point with a nod. "It'd be nice, though."

"Yeah," Harry agrees, "It would."

It's late by the time the yard has been cleared of any remaining detritus from the party, and Harry throws the last of the garbage bags into the trash with a grateful sigh. He returns inside when he's done, locks all the doors and resets the alarm, and then makes his way downstairs, to the shower awaiting him there, and straight to his bed directly after he's done. He reflects on the party briefly, but he's asleep between one thought and the next, and before Harry knows it, it's morning, his alarm is shrill in his ears, and another shift at the Steam House awaits.

As exhausted as Harry feels, it's going to be a long day.

-!- -#-

It's mid-morning, and Ron is absurdly, hilariously hungover. A few others are, too, but mostly everyone's just tired, in good spirits, and reluctant for the weekend to be over. Heidi's team leader today, a bit out of her depth and winging it as she goes along, but no one has any issues with her - or her taste in music - and all things considered, the shift is going well.

Harry's waiting tables, chatting genially with a couple of Steam House regulars when Katie walks in, accompanied by a guy who is vaguely familiar, but whom Harry doesn't know at first glance.

It's Ron who puts a name to the face: Oliver Wood, WMHS alum, Class of 2008, and the former assistant coach of the WMHS soccer teams. He's 20, apparently studying Physiotherapy at Lima's OSU campus, and he and Katie are looking very cozy at the counter.

"Is that legal?" Harry asks. Ron shrugs, clueless but nonplused, and Harry wonders about his friends, and their interest in older men and women.

"The age of consent in Ohio is 16," Heidi interjects. She's taking a year off to save up some money, but she intends to become a lawyer.

"That's something, I suppose," Harry acknowledges. Katie is 17 in October.

"Weird though," Ron opines, "But I guess he's not working at WMHS anymore, so…"

"Isn't he?"

Ron shakes his head. "Nah, decided to focus on school, I guess. Davies is taking his place."

"Guess you'll be seeing a lot of him, then," Harry says.

Roger is one of the Steam House's new team leaders. He'd graduated in the summer, alongside Viktor and Fleur, but Harry hadn't had much of an opportunity to get to know him over the last school year. He'd started working at the Steam House over the winter, but due to conflicting schedules, they'd shared very few shifts until the summer. That said, although Harry doesn't know him well enough to consider him a friend, they're at least friendly acquaintances at this point.

"You too, if you're joining the team," Ron reminds him.

Harry grunts his acknowledgement. "Guess so."

They return to their work before Heidi feels obliged to remind them to do so, and Harry's able to relax enough to banter lightly with Katie as he serves she and her companion's brunch. She introduces him to Oliver, who shakes his hand and informs Harry that Katie apparently speaks highly of him, and Harry returns to the kitchen with a bemused grin and the impression that if nothing else, Oliver Wood is at least a nice guy.

"Are you going to ask her about it?" Ron asks.

"No," Harry answers, "It's none of my business, really."

Ron accepts Harry's response without question, and between serving food and clearing tables, they chat about other things. Ron's joined the Chess Club, and apparently, his house is currently World War III. His mother doesn't approve of his sister, Ginny's, choice to join the Cross Country team, doesn't approve of Fred's or George's choices to spend a year travelling before college, and is not at all pleased by the fact that Bill - who is Ron's eldest brother - has accepted a job offer based out of Hong Kong.

It turns out, Bill's a commercial pilot, and the opportunity from Cafe Pacific was one he could not ignore.

"Do you need a place to crash for a while?" Harry asks.

"Thanks, but I'll be okay," Ron shrugs, and his smile is wry, "I'm really good at avoiding notice."

Harry nods his acquiescence, but his expression is dubious. "The offer is open, if you change your mind."

Ron's smile is sincere. "Thanks, Harry. I'll remember that."

The rest of Harry's shift passes uneventfully. Ron clocks out at midday, and takes off with plans to meet up with Lavender.

"All of my friends are in relationships," Harry informs Natalie. She's a senior, and one of his coworkers, and the pat she gives his cheek is dripping with condescension.

"You poor baby."

He mock scowls. "Screw you."

She laughs. "In all seriousness though, don't feel like you, I don't know, need to be in a relationship or whatever. Just… Have fun, you know? Go to parties, hook up with girls, dance with whoever you want. Don't force a relationship if the feelings aren't there, okay? Trust me, you'll regret it forever."

Harry sighs. "I know. It just… It sucks being the single one, you know? Especially after all the crap last year."

Natalie commiserates. "I know it does, but it won't be forever. You'll find someone. You're too cute not to."

"Harry's expression is deadpan, "Thanks."

Natalie winks, and she is entirely unapologetic. "No problem."

He thinks of Marie, of the sun-drenched days and moonlit nights they'd spent together in Saint Raphaël. They'd both changed immensely in the year since he'd last seen her, but she was still his friend, and their fling during the summer hadn't lasted long enough.

It hadn't been love, though. They'd parted on good terms, a milestone or two lighter, but without any fanfare. She's since returned to her life in Nice, Harry to his own life in Lima, and perhaps things might be different if they'd both stayed in Chicago, but there's no use dwelling on thoughts like that.

Instead, Harry shakes his head, returns to his work, and eagerly awaits the end of his shift.

It can't arrive soon enough.